Edward Brian, deputy assistant for Africa in the US State Department,
described the Sudanese Opposition as `weak' in his statement before
the US Congress Africa Subcommittee on 22 March 1995. He added that
"if a strong alternative to the National Islamic Front (NIF) should
emerge, we believe that the Sudanese people will take the necessary
steps to regain their freedoms and democracy and end their suffering".
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), (a forum for the Sudanese
Opposition which consists of the political parties - Umma, DUP and
Communist -, trade unions, SPLA, Legitimate Army Command and
independent personalities), has also been a focus of much criticism
from its own members as well.

General Abdel Rahman Saeed, deputy leader for the Legitimate Command,
described the situation of the NDA as stagnant. He said that
co-ordination and co-operation between its members is lacking and that
the Higher Co-ordination Committee has not met since December last year.
The preparations for the planned 5th NDA Conference had also slowed
down to a halt. It is not clear now whether this conference will take
place or not.

Tigani El-Tayeb, representative of the Communist Party in the NDA,
had also attacked the NDA for its inefficiency and lack of direction.
He called for the convening of the 5th conference as a way to resolve
the many difficulties and disagreements hindering the progress of
effective opposition.

* ROW OVER THE 'NEW SUDAN BRIGADE'

This is another dramatic example of the lack of common objectives,
strategy and vision among the NDA members.

Colonel John Garang, Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA,
declared on 21 February 95, the formation of the `New Sudan Brigade'
(NSB), as an "organic and special unit of the SPLA", falling under
direct political guidance and military command of the Chairman himself.
The NSB shall be composed of political cells inside Sudan and abroad;
and military units in the country-side and armed cells in government-
controlled areas.

The NSB is said by Col. Garang to be a response and contribution to
the on-going dialogue between the SPLA and the Northern opposition on
how to topple the NIF regime and build a new Sudan. Being open to all
Sudanese patriots, it is supposed to extend the war to the countryside
and urban areas of the North. Through it, the SPLA hopes to transfer
itself into a national, rather than a regional movement.

If Col. Garang had expected his initiative to be warmly received by
the Northern opposition, he was definitely guilty of gross miscalculation.
The leaders of the (major) opposition parties came out promptly to
condemn the NSB in no uncertain terms and to flatly contradict Garang's
assertion that the NSB was a product of prior consultations that
continued for years with the very same parties.

Sadig el-Mahdi said that the Umma Party "strongly condemns guerrilla
war tactics and the destruction of public utilities, and considers these
tactics as symptoms of despair".
Mohamed Osman el-Mirghani said that his party (DUP) "was not consulted
about the NSB and that terror, destruction and murder can never be
justified as political means".

The Legitimate Command expressed similar sentiments.
Irrespective of the truth or falsehood of prior consultation, the
standpoint of these political parties and forces shows confusion and
lack of direction. The Umma Party had signed an agreement with the SPLA,
not later than a few months ago, which explicitly says that the SPLA
and the Umma Party have agreed to pool their military forces and efforts
in the struggle against the Khartoum government. The DUP, represented
by el-Mirghani personally, signed an agreement with the Sudanese Allied
Forces (SAF), a military group that speaks the same language as that of
the NSB.

Both parties and the SPLA are all signatories to the NDA Charter which
also calls for 'armed struggle' against the NIF regime. Many observers
believe that this position had exposed the opposition parties as not
meaning what they say and not saying what they mean.

On the other hand, the wisdom of forming the NSB and the way it has
been formed still remains in serious doubt. Many questions are being
asked such as why should a branch of the SPLA achieve what the mother
organisation had failed to achieve?, and what is new in the
`New Sudan Brigade' that will make others join while they had refrained
all this time from joining the SPLA?.

* GOVERNMENT FORCES RECAPTURE NASIR

In the last week of March 95, the government forces had recaptured the
strategic town of Nasir on the Sobat river in Upper Nile, which has been
under the control of the Southern Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM),
led by Riak Machar, since his breakaway from the SPLA in 1991.

President al-Bashir, addressing a rally organised by the government to
celebrate the occasion, said that his government will never abandon the
application of Islamic Shari'a, and would not negotiate with anybody on
this issue. He added that "from now on, our talking would be through
the gun's muzzle only. Fighting is the best way of liberating Southern
Sudan from the rebels."

* SUDAN AND ITS NEIGHBOURS

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, had threatened that Uganda would
shoot down any Sudanese plane that violates its air space. He reiterated
his claim that the Sudanese government supplies the rebels in Northern
Uganda with arms and land mines which caused the death of many victims
in the region adjacent to the Sudanese border.

Sudan, at the same time, repeated earlier charges that Museveni
provided the SPLA with supplies and men during the rebel faction's
recent attack on Kapoeta in the Eastern Equatoria. Uganda has denied
the charges.

On the other hand, Libya had initiated a mediation effort to improve
relations between the two countries. Colonel Abu Bakr Younis, the Libyan
Minister of Defence, chaired a meeting with Sudan's first Vice-President
al-Zubair Mohammed Saleh and Uganda's Vice-Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya
on 3 April. The outcome of this mediation initiative has not yet been
disclosed.

On another front, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Osman Taha,
described his meeting with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Amr Musa, as
being positive. According to Taha, the meeting discussed issues
confronting the Arab nation and bilateral relations between Sudan and
Egypt. Taha said `the meeting discussed clearly and objectively all
outstanding matters between the two countries which will open the way
for a common understanding and a new page in our relations'. The
meeting which took place in Cairo on 28 March 1995, was the first since
Taha took over Foreign Affairs.
Musa promised to visit Khartoum for further meetings.

* AL-BASHIR DISMISSES SEVEN SENIOR TNA MEMBERS

Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the dismissal of Amin Banani and
six other members of the National Transitional Assembly (a government-
appointed parliament), following a heated debate in which a report by
the Investigation Committee on the sale of the government-owned companies
to the private sector was discussed. The report accused the Ministerial
Privatisation Committee of malpractice and corruption in the sale of
profitable state enterprises (see Sudan News & Views - 6).

Amin Banani is the Chairman of the Investigation Committee and had
vigorously attacked the government's program to privatise state-owned
companies. Banani said some of the firms that were sold off had made
profits while others were offered in hard currency, but paid for in
Sudanese Pounds.

* ELECTION UPDATE

Sources inside Sudan had reported a very poor participation in the
elections that started on 21 March in many parts of the country. The
authorities decided to extend the voting for an extra four days because
of weak response from the voters. The authorities explained the poor
attendance as 'because the people are busy celebrating the recapture of
Nasir'.

In Al-Sahafa district, only 475 people, out of 7,000 registered, voted
in the four days of voting. In Khartoum-3 district, only 414 out of 7,100
registered, cast their votes. In some areas, the election committees
were reported going from house to house with ballot boxes.

* CEASE-FIRE UPDATE

Col. John Garang, leader of the SPLA, had announced his acceptance for
the cease-fire declared by Omer al-Bashir, for 60 days starting 30 March 95.
Garang demanded the presence of international monitors to ensure that the
cease-fire holds. He said he doubted the seriousness of the government,
and would consider any troop movements as a violation of the cease-fire
unless carried out under international supervision and with the approval
of the SPLA.

He added that his acceptance of the cease-fire comes from a position
of strength since the Sudanese army had failed in its recent dry season
offensive and had suffered heavy losses during the last 3 months;
estimated at 9,000 killed and 15,000 injured.

The truce was brokered by former US President Carter to allow a
campaign to cure the parasitic guinea-worm disease. It is reported that
there are more cases of guinea-worm in Sudan than all of the rest of
the world combined (Sudan has an estimated 150,000 guinea-worm cases
representing 80% of the world's total).

Garang also confirmed that he agreed to a meeting with Dr. Hassan
al-Turabi, the leader of the NIF, to take place in April in Nairobi.
He demanded that the meeting should also be attended by the Kenyan
President, Daniel Arap Moi.

Riak Machar, leader of the Southern Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM),
had also declared a cease fire effective from 3 April 95. Machar claimed
that on 30 March the government forces bombed Maiwut, a village in Upper
Nile and on 31 March, his forces had repulsed an attack by government
forces on Lafon, 120 km east of Juba, inflicting heavy casualties on
the government forces and capturing its commander, Colonel Khalid
Mohamed Osman, two tanks and other vehicles.

* TURABI SAYS BRITISH INTELLIGENCE FUNDS AMNESTY

The NIF leader Hassan al-Turabi accused Amnesty International, which
has condemned Sudan for gross human rights violations, of being in the
pay of British intelligence services.

"I have spent seven years of my life in prison, but my name was not
mentioned in (Amnesty) reports because I am what they call the
'fundamentalist' doctor Turabi," he said in a news conference marking
the end of the Popular Arab and Islamic conference. "Who is it who funds
them? It is the British intelligence service," Turabi said.

On the same subject, Ahmed al-Mufti, Raporteur for the Advisory Council
for Human Rights in Sudan, accused the USA for pushing the UN Human Rights
Commission resolution that condemned human rights violations by the
Sudanese government. He said that the US had mobilised the Western media
to focus on the issue of human rights in Sudan. He added that he considers
the result of the vote in the Commission last month as positive. Compared
with last year, he said, 33 countries voted against Sudan this time,
compared to 35 last year and 10 countries abstained while only 9
abstained last year. However, 7 voted with Sudan this year in comparison
to 9 last year.

* NEW REGULATIONS FOR FOREIGNERS

Minister of Interior, Brigadier el-Tayeb Ibrahim Mohamed Khair,
announced new regulations restricting the movement of foreigners in Sudan.
Speaking before the TNA, he said that foreigners are now required to
register with the police within 3 days of arrival and a permit should
be obtained for movement from one region to another.
He also told the TNA that the police force is under-staffed, ill-equipped
and under-paid. To tackle this problem, the Minister announced the
formation of a Popular police force, to which 9 thousand volunteers
had already been recruited.

* THREE SUDANESE DETAINED IN PAKISTAN

Pakistani police is interrogating six people including 3 Sudanese, an
Iranian and two Pakistanis. The group was arrested in mid-March in Peshawer
in North West Pakistan, in connection with terrorist plots. The three
Sudanese were named as Adil el-Tayeb, working for the Islamic Aid Agency,
Fadl Omer, an engineering student and Baha el-Din, a university lecturer.

* ACUTE WATER AND ELECTRICITY SHORTAGES IN KHARTOUM

Daily power cuts and shortage of water are reported in Khartoum in the
past few weeks. Out of the required daily consumption of water in Khartoum
of 600,000 cubic meters, only 390,000 are now available. Water
authorities explained the reason as lack of financing. All planned
projects for improving the water situation had been suspended due to
lack of financing.

The capital is also experiencing power cuts on a daily basis for up to
five times a day.

* ECONOMIC POINTERS

[] On March 18, the Minister of Finance announced price increases for
petrol and gas. One gallon of petrol now costs 1,100 Sudanese Pounds
(S.Ls), while refilling a butagas bottle costs 3,600 S.Ls.
Sugar had also been increased from 50 S.Ls per pound to 135 S.Ls
per pound.

The Minister attributed the increase to the increase in the value of
the US dollar in the local market.

However, when he made his announcement two weeks ago, the dollar was
worth 613 S.Ls. Recent reports from Khartoum had shown that the dollar
had now exceeded the 700 S.Ls mark. Prices of other essential
commodities had rocketed in the last two weeks. One kg of lamb meat
had reached 1,200 S.Ls and a pound of milk sells at 160 S.Ls.

[] The newly-privatised Sudan Telecommunication company (Sudatel), had
announced its plans to install new modern telephone exchanges. It
also announced that for its customers to make use of the new facilities,
they have to pay a fee of 200 thousand Sudanese Pounds (S. Ls), or else
be disconnected, even from their old exchanges. The Company also sent
out telephone bills with a back-dated, ten-fold increase in prices. If
you require an itemised bill, you have to pay 2,000 S.Ls to receive
details of your calls.

[] Energy and Mining Minster, Salah Karrar, announced that a new company
for Gold exploration and mining has been established as a joint venture
between Sudan and France. The company was given concessions for the
exploration and mining of gold in three areas in Eastern and Northern
Sudan. He said that the agreement places no financial obligations on
Sudan during the exploration stage.

* SHORT NEWS ITEMS

- The authorities in Khartoum, last week, confiscated the house and
properties of Dr. Omer Nur el-Dayem, Secretary General of the Umma party.
Twenty security officers raided the house in Riyadh district in Khartoum
and ordered all the family out and confiscated the house and all its
contents.

Nur el-Dayem, who held many Ministerial positions during the sixties
and also during the last democracy, has been actively involved with
the opposition in exile in the last two years.

- Al-Sudan Hotel, on the Blue Nile bank in Khartoum will become a
specialised hospital for kidney patients. The project which is funded
by the Social Insurance Fund, will be executed in co-operation with the
Islamic Hospital in Jordan and under the auspices of Mohamed el-Amin
Khalifa, speaker of the TNA.

- Two AIDS-infected monkeys, refused entry into the United States from
Sudan, were killed by Cairo airport officials on Wednesday, according
to Reuters News Agency.

The monkeys, flown to New York via Egypt from Sudan, had tuberculosis
and were sent back to Cairo when U.S. officials diagnosed them as
having the deadly disease.
The monkeys were killed by lethal injection and their bodies burnt.